The COVID-19 pandemic led many companies to go remote. They quickly learned how to balance security and productivity in order to survive.
Your firm is already ahead of the curve if it offers video meetings, screen sharing, cloud-based email, and other remote work tools.
Many studies show that when given the right tools, remote workers are just as productive as in-office workers. In some jobs, output even rises. However, it’s also important to balance output with security.
Stabilizing the Workforce at Home
Successful firms don’t merely provide their staff remote work tools and hope for the best. They have a plan to define standards and share best practices.
Consider how teams conduct daily meetings. Employee fatigue occurs when companies arrange huge Zoom or Teams meetings or overuse video calls. So instead of “video conference fatigue,” embrace team chat tools and 15-minute “micro-meetings.”
Instead of time-based management (which works well in an office setting) use goal-based management. This builds employee trust and therefore boosts output. With a remote workforce, trust is vital to success. To rapidly gain employee trust, show it daily via practices and rules.
The growth of remote work has one key drawback. When not handled properly, technology and remote connection may expose a company to the imbalance of serious security concerns. Bad actors often abuse the same links and pathways that connect your workers to one other and to your data.
Always be cautious. Remote work culture has made security breaches easier. Data breaches are becoming a matter of when not if.
Offset new risks to network access points. Wise leaders deploy, maintain, and improve these efforts across distant personnel. IT security is simply one part of a good cyber defense. These simple steps are often forgotten but are critical to limit risk.
An IT Security Incident Response Plan’s Human Element
During COVID-19, hackers are targeting people’s emotions and fears. COVID-19-related phishing emails and frauds have risen all through the pandemic. These snares are often hiding harmful URLs under phony company layoff lists, pandemic policy materials, and more.
People might be your best or weakest IT security protection.
Always provide the proper support and development of skills. This makes your staff less likely to carelessly allow hackers into your corporate network.
Ways to Harmonize Safety and Output
A full IT security solution involves both a strong defense and a clear event response. This is important whether your staff works in the office or remotely. Both need prompt action and refining of these major security measures, including:
- cyber-awareness education and testing;
- guidelines for IT security; and
- CISM software and tools.
These three security measures help your IT team keep your workforce aware, alert, and involved in data safety.
What do your IT team and company need to do to execute each item effectively? Your staff must understand what an attack looks like and what to do if abnormal activity occurs. They must also know how to respond when a breach happens.
A Stable Cyber-Awareness Education and Culture
Your IT team should educate your employees on current IT security dangers and best practices. They should also engage with your leadership team to develop an easy way for workers to test their security skills.
Balancing Risk Management and IT Security Training
Training should help determine and react to IT security threats while following your firm’s best practices. Faked phishing attacks may help your company find which employees are security risks and help them improve.
Employee Testing and Education
Regular staff testing will identify areas where specific education and training are needed to reduce company risk. Training and testing keep employees informed. In addition, it helps them be responsible for security awareness, especially while working from home.
IT Security Policies, Procedures, and Protocols to Offset Threats
Clear IT security rules, methods, and practices are vital to support your company’s safety training. These practices should cover a range of situations. They also enable your staff and IT team to respond promptly and properly in the event of a breach.
Your IT security rules should define clear directions about business policies. Define such things as remote access security restrictions and sharing sensitive data to a personal device. In addition, cover financial demands across remote workplaces and take steps to deal with malware attacks.
IT Security Apps and Tools
While staff training and best practices are important, IT security technology is also vital.
Your IT staff should cooperate with your company about security. This allows you to balance security, function, and efficiency.
There are some good IT security measures such as email link and attachment scanning, MFA, and limited file access. These protect your sensitive data and critical systems from harmful actors and accidental staff errors.
The post How to Balance Security and Productivity in Remote Work appeared first on The Tech Report.